The downtown of Lac-Megantic, Quebec, remains closed June 10, 2014, as crews work at the clearing and decontamination a year after an oil-filled train screeched off the tracks and exploded killing 47 people. (AP Photo/The Canadian Press, Paul Chiasson)

LAC-MEGANTIC, Quebec — Backhoes and bulldozers are still digging out oil-seeped soil and pavement in the center of this lakeside Quebec town. Where the post office, public library and restaurants once stood, there is only the clanging of machinery kicking up dust over the emptiness.

It is the daily soundtrack of a town fighting to rise up from one of the worst railway disasters in North American history.

A year has passed since a runaway oil train slid quietly down a hill in the middle of the night and derailed in a series of explosions that obliterated a large swath of downtown Lac-Megantic, killing 47 people. Paved roads and new buildings remain a long way off in the fenced-off disaster zone. The damage to the surrounding river system hasn’t been fully made public, and the environmental cleanup alone will cost at least $200 million.

Upsetting many townspeople, oil trains could soon rumble through the town again.

“It’s a challenge for us to commemorate something that doesn’t yet belong to the past,” said Father Steve Lemay, the parish priest at St. Agnes Church, a stone building overlooking the disaster site. “We’re still in the midst of the tragedy.”

This weekend, the town of 6,000 people will mark the anniversary of the July 6, 2013, accident that prompted Canada and the U.S. to tighten regulations and phase out old tanker models. There will be special Roman Catholic masses, a 47-minute candlelight walk and the unveiling of a monument etched with the names of those killed.

Many townspeople aren’t ready for it.

“I’m sure the images of those final hours will come back, all those flames,” said Yannick Gagne, owner of a popular bar where an estimated 30 people were killed.

Just outside the clean-up zone, Gagne is building a new bar. Musi-Cafe had been the heart of the town’s nightlife, with its two-dozen beers on tap and cozy, wood-paneled decor inside a red-brick building that Gagne had bought and renovated four years ago.

His determination to open a new bar just feet from his old one has become a symbol of hope. Yet Gagne says he struggles every day with grief and anger, haunted by thoughts of the last moments of his friends and employees. Gagne had left the bar just 45 minutes before the train slammed into it in the early hours of that Saturday. He had just treated a group of friends to a round of drinks. They were all killed, along with three of his bartenders, the members of the band playing that night and the tenants who lived upstairs.

“I do that every day — think of all the people I’ve lost,” said Gagne, 35, a father of three with a sturdy build and chin-strap beard, now known throughout Canada.

Gagne hopes the new Musi-Cafe — a more modern construction with floor-to-ceiling glass windows — will open in September at the end of a new main street, hastily built by the government. Insurance is covering some of the estimated $1.6 million cost of the bar and a construction company, BONE Structure, has also contributed. But Gagne said funding expected from the Quebec government has not arrived, delaying the project. For now, his half-built patio overlooks the rumble of the disaster zone.

Other new storefronts remain empty. Tenants like Alex Lapointe, who lost his Italian restaurant in the accident, complain that bureaucratic delays are tying up compensation payments.

Just $25 million in insurance payouts have been made available for wrongful death, personal injury, property damage, fire suppression and environmental impact. But with the completion of the sale of the bankrupt railroad responsible for the accident, attention is turning to the creation of a settlement fund with hundreds of millions of dollars. The Quebec government is footing the bill for the cleanup but has submitted claims against the defunct railroad at the heart of the disaster, Montreal Maine and Atlantic, as well as Irving Oil, the company that was going to refine the oil being transported.

In May at the town courthouse, three railway employees were charged with 47 counts each of criminal negligence, including engineer Thomas Harding, who is accused of failing to set enough brakes on the train. The men are set to appear in court in September. Montreal, Maine and Atlantic Railway was also charged.

Trains, which provide a crucial link for many businesses in the town’s industrial park, already began transporting non-hazardous materials last December.

John Giles, president and CEO of Central Maine and Quebec Railway, which bought the defunct company, told The Associated Press in May he plans to improve the rail lines over the next two years with a goal of resuming oil shipments in 18 months.

The announcement angered many in Lac-Megantic. City officials are pushing for the company, along with the federal and provincial governments, to foot the bill for a new track that would circumvent the downtown.

“We’re working really hard to have a detour so that it doesn’t go through town,” said Jean-Guy Bouffard, a town councilor. “That’s what residents want — but we also need a train for industry.”

Giles has not commented publicly on the idea of a new track. But he now stresses that there are no concrete plans for oil shipments. In an e-mail to AP this week, Giles said that for the moment, he has “no plans to ship crude, and no one has approached us to handle crude.”

As you comment, please be respectful of other commenters and other viewpoints. Our goal with article comments is to provide a space for civil, informative and constructive conversations. We reserve the right to remove any comment we deem to be defamatory, rude, insulting to others, hateful, off-topic or reckless to the community. See our full terms of use here.

More in News

St. Paul Public Schools has established a where anyone can donate money to pay off anonymous students’ overdue lunch accounts. The district said it’s a response to a social media campaign that caused many people to call the district asking how they can give. Families in the district owe nearly $28,000 on school lunches. All district schools provide free breakfasts and most offer...

Weekend snow is on tap for much of southern Minnesota and western Wisconsin, with 3 to 6 inches expected in the Twin Cities and more elsewhere. The snow will be followed next week by the season’s first subzero temperatures. According to the National Weather Service, a slow-moving low pressure system will spread snow into western Minnesota on Saturday morning and...

Hennepin County Medical Center in downtown Minneapolis is planning to reduce its workforce by as much as 4 percent next year. The hospital plans to eliminate up to 275 full-time positions to balance the budget and keep the opening of a $220 million ambulatory and outpatient surgery center on schedule for 2018, the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported. The hospital’s workforce...

Two construction companies have agreed to pay a combined $147,500 in fines over safety violations in the death of one worker and injuries to another during construction of the Minnesota Vikings’ new stadium in downtown Minneapolis last year. Berwald Roofing is paying $113,200 for three violations, while Mortenson is paying $34,300 for one violation. The penalties are lower than Minnesota’s...

Larry Stanger, the Inver Grove Heights police chief who has been on paid leave since April while being investigated for alleged wrongdoing, will resign as part of a separation agreement reached between him and the city. The city council is scheduled to consider approving the agreement at its regularly scheduled meeting Monday. City Administrator Joe Lynch and City Attorney Tim...

St. Paul police are investigating a case of possible embezzlement at Town and Country Club. Police were notified of the matter on Monday and an investigator met with representatives of the club, said Steve Linders, a St. Paul police spokesman. A brief police report indicates the incident of possible embezzlement began in January 2010 and ended Dec. 2. Police are...